Canopy Tour

Up and attem' 6:30 am! It's cool outside. We don't have a thermometer but I'm guessing it is around 23 C. The kids get ready in record time. We've booked a canopy tour for today, woo hoo!

Daniel, our taxi, picks us up at the office and takes us up to Miss Sky, the canopy tour office. We now have enough Spanish to have a couple little conversations. He looked impressed. On the way up we note the way to go (not many choices, but as there are no street signs, no addresses and precious few signs to direct us in Nosara, it's important to log these details whenever possible). Bob Marley lulls us into a good morning stupor.

Di had started making little noises at the house. "What have I gotten myself into?"

Miss Sky is housed in a small, long building with a covered porch. The gear is hanging at one end, and we pay at the other. Typical Costa Rica; I'm slightly shocked that all of us have to pay $10 USD to ride up the mountain, but the gal taking our $ says "$5 for ride". I thank her and give a genuinely pleased smile.

Our bunch is quiet , except me, who's reminded of days long past when my then soon-to-be husband and I geared up together to skydive. I miss him. We step into the offered harnesses and are introduced to our respective team member. All are in their early 20s (not surprising that this type of work would attract the young, thrill seeking) and all are Tico except one who speaks with an interesting accent, he's from Isreal.

There are two other groups, one couple our age from Isreal and a couple of girls from Missouri. There's little chatting, and a lot of wide eyes. I'm too tired to talk (yeah yeah, go ahead, I'm used to the digs), Di's fears look like they are bubbling to the surface.

We jump aboard the back of a 5 ton, rigged with sides on it's flat bed. There's standing room only folks. We're offered coolers to sit on (in that chivalrous way that is mostly forgotten in N. America). We all decline, choosing to stand at the sides, gripping the rails. It's bumpy. Perhaps that's redundant to say, but really, it's a huge thing here. Even the locals complain; "only in Nosara". For the umpteenth time, I wonder if it's because of this that Nosara has been successful in keeping out the all-inclusives. Not at all a bad thing, in my mind. The ride up (and down and up and down...) gives Diane too much time to let the fears in. We spend time doing some grounding. I try to send her some of my extra energy and tell her about letting the bad stuff go. She still smiling, that's a good sign.

At the top, we jump out of the truck and take a look at our fait. The wires look very long and there's not much canopy, it's all down, down, down below the line. I thought we'd be in, amounst the tree tops, this is a thrill ride after all. They go thru a quick safety routine, showing us how to sit in the harness, where to hold on, how to break by putting our dominant hand behind the zip-line rig we're hanging from, joking here and there. The jokes are addressing the elephant in the room. "....I don't know, most of you will make it, but some might not....if you see me patting the top of my head, use your breaks, no I'm not waving at you so we can have a coffee later, I want you to break..." . Laughter is a good remedy for nerves. Rainne mentions she's not planning on using her helmet, ha. I ask Linds if she's gonna fly (the girl has wanted to do this all her life) and look on at Erroll, who's got a permanent grin slathered on his face. My kids are very happy.

Now we take turns, first Isreal, then Canada, then Missouri, getting hooked up and pushed down. "Ready? SIT! Have fun!!!". Di says "OH MY" to every person's take off. I go before her.

"OH MY" is right. The rush is definitely a reminder of skydiving. Only this time instead of finding one's self suddenly in a quiet atmosphere, there's a zzzzzzzz above; the lines buzzing as the gear does it's thing to hold you. I try not to put too much thought into that, choosing instead to relish every moment. The fact that you can look down and see nothing but your feet and LOTS of air between you and all of Creation is the same as skydiving. There's a lovely sense of exhilaration and freedom.

At the other end, I miss seeing Linds's reaction, she's gotten ahead of Erroll somehow. He doesn't seem to mind. I did, thoough, see Rainne and Di's faces and know that they were enjoying it. In fact the turn-around was instant for Di. Her woohooing can be heard for a long time, down that line. Diane OWNS that line. There are 11 lines to go and the adrenaline is pumping through our veins.

The team is wonderful. At every line they joke and have something to say. Their broken English makes them funnier. There's not much time between lines to talk but we do, marveling at the beauty of this land. It's very mountainous, with a river running below us as we zig zag down, across the valley. I look watch the boys checking our gear each time, noting that they have been trained well to be respectful in their touch, but efficient at counting each carribeaner (sp) and buckle, counting . The lines are solid, secure, the harnesses newer looking, the posts holding the long, heavy lines are about 4' thick with rebar sticking out above. I feel safe.

About mid way, the boys started to ask if each one of us would like to tandem. sort of. There's a distance between us as they hook the second security line to their harness and the first line to the gear on the lines . They tell us to "sit, you don't break, you don't hold on (to our handles), I break, you...(letting go and flinging their arms back, and even throwing their feet up to rest on the handles). It's too late to argue "Ready? Sit! We go!". What a rush. Flying with an experienced zip liner, who's giving permission to let go and fall backward to look at the giant tree tops rushing below is the ultimate. They obviously feed off the adrenaline as we did in skydiving when fresh blood jumped for the first time. "You like? Is fun?" Oh yeah.

!/2 way thru we take a walk down the path and across a river where rocks are placed for a make-shift bridge. Erroll Is the only one of our group to jump in for a refreshing dip. The rest of us get our feet wet to cool off. The hike back up proves the tour guides are actually monkeys. They tickle the backs of everyone's legs with pieces of grass, and shout "look out for the snakes!" At one point we stop to look at the moss in the tree (I thought at the time that it was a bit much asking the whole group to stop. They must be up to something....) boo! Out from the bush runs a gorilla masked guide. Rainne gets a fern stamped on her arm. When it was removed, there, left on her arm, was a powdery residue "tatoo" of a fern.

Back to the office we wait for the dvd of our trip to be burned. There are guides pouring water, and in trees picking mandarin oranges.

All in all, well worth the $65. We're all exhausted and fall into bed asap.